McGill at a Glance

Video of Around McGill in 80 seconds

Who We Are

McGill University is one of Canada's best-known institutions of higher learning and one of the leading universities in the world. With students coming to McGill from some 150 countries, our student body is the most internationally diverse of any research-intensive university in the country. McGill was founded in 1821 thanks to a generous bequest by James McGill, and since then, we've grown from a small college to a bustling university with two campuses, 10 faculties, some 300 programs of study, and 40,000 students. The University also partners with four affiliated teaching hospitals to graduate over 1,000 health care professionals each year.

A Tradition of Success

McGill is recognized around the world for the excellence of its teaching and research programs. Ernest Rutherford's Nobel Prize-winning research on the nature of radioactivity was conducted at McGill, part of a long tradition of innovation on our campuses that includes the invention of the artificial blood cell and Plexiglas. Today our professors are building the new field of epigenetics, developing alternative energy sources from crop plants and driving human achievement in every field imaginable. Our 250,000+ graduates form a vast global network, with many alumni reaching the top of their professions as Supreme Court Justices, award-winning authors and musicians, astronauts and more.

The Brightest Students

In addition to a stellar faculty, McGill is known for attracting the brightest students from across Canada, the United States, and around the world. McGill students have the highest average entering grades in Canada, and our commitment to fostering the very best has helped our students win more national and international awards on average than their peers at any other Canadian university. The prestigious Rhodes Scholarship has gone to a nation-leading 144 McGill students.

The ability to balance academic excellence with the extracurricular is another hallmark of the McGill student. In addition to a rich athletic tradition that includes many Olympians and the birth of hockey and football, thousands of McGill students participate in the hundreds of clubs, associations and community groups that enrich Montreal and contribute to a vibrant campus life.

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We are at a carrefour, a time of confluence, with many things coming together in many ways. Our place is at the carrefour of diverse cultural perspectives, diverse disciplines, and different ways of knowing.